I will often light a conference room when the ISO needs to stay low. A few years ago, I owned the Nikon D2X camera. With this camera, most people felt comfortable shooting up to ISO 800 with little noise, but above that was a concern.
While I could have shot these photos with the room light, you would have to consider a few things. First of all, mixed lighting. While the lights in the room with fluorescent, the room also had a large window where some daylight was spilling in.
The easiest solution for me was to overpower the room lights just a little and clean up the color.
I put the lights down to 1/8 power to ensure the flashes would make all fire. I didn’t want to put a radio remote on every morning. So I have a PocketWizard Plus II receiver on one light while triggering it with the PocketWizard Plus II transmitter. If I put the lights to the lowest setting, they do not always fire.
I was pleased overall with the results with g d skins tones and colors throughout the photo. The s was important because I wanted to show the diversity in the classroom, and if not careful, some of the people would have been just a silhouette rather than seeing the skin tones we do here.
This is one of my favorite photos that I have ever made. I think the model brought as much to this session as I did lighting her.
I love her hair, the turtle neck and her wonderful skin and smile.
Simplicity is what makes this work so well. You need to have the background far away from the soft boxes. There is easily 10 feet from the model to the background. So the amount of light hitting the subject drops off pretty quickly and what little light is hitting the background isn’t enough to register in the photo.
She is around f/8 on the Mamiya RZ 6×7 camera system. I was using a 100-200mm zoom lens and shooting with Provia 100 transparency film. I didn’t know how good it was until I got the film back from the lab a day or so later.
Sure I shot a test shot. I shot that with a Polaroid back using Fuji’s Polaroid film.
There are two types of photos when it comes to clothing: 1) For Portraits and 2) For Fashion.
If the photo shoot is for portrait you need to be sure that the clothing doesn’t distract, but rather compliments the person’s face. The fashion photo shoot is all about the clothing and the model is just there to make the clothing look good.
Look at these three examples of tops for a typical head shot.
Photo #1Photo #2Photo #3
To be sure we are concentrating on how clothing can add or distract from a portrait I shot these all the same so that the only difference is really the clothing.
First of all all three outfits look good on the model and the point isn’t about which one you like the most. The point in a portrait photo is which one makes you look more at the model’s face and less about the clothing?
Simple Tips:
Avoid busy patterns as in Photo #1
Choose a solid as in Photo #2
Avoid Stripes as in Photo #3
Each person will look best in one of the following necklines: v-neck, oval or round.
Color choices can be tricky as well. Everyone will look good in Aqua. The reason for this is this is the closest to the complementary color for the skin.
While different ethnic groups have different skin, the general rule is it is more about how light or dark the skin is more than color differences.
However the other factor is our eyes and hair color. Complimentary and the same color are generally good on a person. Complimentary colors tend to make you pop more than the same colors.
The general rule which is often the most difficult to follow is always keeping it simple.
Lighting diagram used for examples
Items: (2) Alienbees B1600 1-stop brighter on background than lights on subject
White backdrop I recommend not having it perpendicular to the camera. Slight angle will help avoid light flare caused by light bouncing off background
(2) Alienbees B1600 with bounce white umbrellas
Nikon D4 with 28-300mm No description for this item.
I am covering the Revive! Young Adult Track at the 2012 Eucharistic Congress put on by the Archdiocese of Atlanta. These are photos of the keynote speaker for the evening.Your job is to help me pick the best photo or photos that would run with an article about him speaking to the group.
Known for his love of cooking and inviting people to rediscover the kitchen as a place of daily grace, Father Leo Patalinghug is a popular conference speaker. A native of the Philippines raised near Baltimore, he studied writing and political science before seminary and earned a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. He developed his love of cooking in seminary at the North American College in Rome, Italy. He was ordained in 1999 and, as a parish priest, authored “Grace Before Meals: Recipes for Family Life,” a book that blends simple recipes with ideas on bringing the meaningful spiritual discussion to the dinner table.
His cooking skills led to a Food Network episode where he defeated chef Bobby Flay in a steak fajita cooking competition on “Throw Down With Bobby Flay.”
Father Patalinghug is on the faculty at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md., where he directs a pastoral field education program for future priests. He holds advanced theological degrees from the Pontifical Gregorian University and Pontifical Maranium Institute in Rome. He is featured in a 2012 EWTN series “Savoring Our Faith.” He frequently speaks at conferences, college campuses, and prison ministry. His topics include spiritual combat, praying as a family, teen spirituality, and the theology of beauty.
Help me pick the photo from below.
Photo #1
Photo #2
Photo #3
Photo #4
Photo #5
Photo #6
Photo #7
Photo #8
Which photo would you use? You can pick more than one.
Miyuki Ishida Johnson, a Japanese teacher at Elkins Pointe Middle School, accepts a check from Cranes for Kids, a program run by Osh Kosh Clothing.
Of check presentations, this is one of my favorites. All the kids from the Origami Club came to the Osh Kosh clothing store with the teacher and all the Cranes they made. Visually, this is quite interesting.
One of the main reasons I love the photo is that my daughter is in the group photo. If I were thumbing through a publication, this photo most likely wouldn’t make me stop to read the caption or the story.
A good lead for a story is as much about surprise as the content itself. If you are not careful, you can pay more attention to grammar and style and forget that the audience needs to be entertained to keep them engaged.
The best way to ensure that your photograph doesn’t do what it is supposed to is to use a cliché.
What is a photo supposed to do?
Why use a photo? Before you answer that question, you’ll need to ask what you want to accomplish. You may determine you don’t even need a photograph, an article, or a press release.
Sometimes, the primary audience you are trying to reach is so tiny you could hold a luncheon; sometimes, you meet with the people in person.
When the purpose has been decided that you need to communicate a message and the audience is best reached through a website, printed pieces, or social media, you know that people respond to photos more than text.
The most common mistake made at this point, which leads us to the check presentation photo, is the assumption that any photo will do.
This is the best way to communicate your message; you have seen many check presentations. More people use it than other options; therefore, it must be the best, which needs to be revised.
What is the check for?
The best question to help you move to a better photo is to ask what the check is for.
With Guest Conductor Arild Remmereit and Sergei Krylov as guest violin soloists, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra spent some time with the Elkins Pointe Middle School Orchestra students, answering their questions. Due to gifts to the music program, students can meet some of the world’s best musicians.
Would you instead use the photo of the students getting time with one of the best violinists and orchestra conductors or the check presentation to the school administrator that helps support these types of opportunities?
Even a setup photo can do better than a check presentation photo. Would you stop and want to read more about this photo? If so, then it is successful. I can see this used to help talk about a Catholic School expanding to include new grades in the fall due to a gift assisting the school in adding more classrooms.
Series of photos
Could you think about one photo? Sometimes, a series of images will help tell the story even better.
When Seth Gamba started teaching orchestra in North Fulton elementary schools, he had few instruments. He could buy some electronic orchestra instruments as gifts, which improved the students’ excitement about music.
Besides the expression helping communicate excitement, most of the public has never seen an electronic viola. So, this photo has some visual surprises that help share what a check presentation helped to fund.
The intensity of the student playing and the look of the strange instrument, an electronic cello, help communicate how a gift supports the arts.
This is an electronic violin. Again, seeing middle school students this engaged in school is exciting.
While the photo is a better visual surprise than a check presentation, a good writer will help drop in other surprises.
One study done at Georgia Tech found that the only thing that significantly impacted retention and graduation rates was whether a student took music classes. Tutors, Greek life, taking courses to help improve study habits, and everything the school could test had no significant impact other than music.
Can you see how working this into the caption can help the development office raise even more funds than a check presentation photo?
Next time someone suggests a check presentation photo, please remember to ask what the check is for and indicate a picture that shows the purpose of the gift.
One of my favorite shots for organizations is doing what I call the “Walk and Talk.” This is where two or more people walk next to each other towards me.
I encourage them to feel each other barely next to each other. This keeps them from walking further and further apart. Their closeness also helps communicate that they are friends. This is using the body language of touching or almost touching to help communicate their relationship.
Here are examples I did while teaching in Kona, Hawaii, in February this year. In these first ones, I was showing the students how to use two hot shoe flashes as fill lights. I have included the assistant carrying the lights for these examples to show you what they are doing as well.
I talk to the subjects and explain what I want them to do—no flash when off here.
The photo assistant is carrying a Nikon SB900 and a Nikon SB800. They are zoomed out to 200mm for the SB900 and 120mm with the SB800. This helps the light go farther but also keeps the light mainly on their faces.
Notice that the assistant must be pretty close to the subjects for the flash to work properly. In addition to the flashes, I am using the RadioPoppers PX system to help relay the infrared signal from the Nikon SU800 on my camera to the flashes.
We switched out the subjects so everyone could experience what it felt like doing this exercise and see it being done.
While showing the class how to use the hot shoe flashes, there were a few times when I got ahead of the flashes’ recycling. By not waiting long enough between flashes (2 seconds), the flash wouldn’t fire.
Walk and Talk with Studio Strobe
To help everyone see the difference in flashes, I also used an AlienBee 1600 powered by a Vagabond Mini Lithium battery. I borrowed the Photo Schools radio remotes, but I now mostly use the Pocket Wizard Mini TT1 Transmitter on my Nikon Camera and the Pocket Wizard Plus II transceiver on the flashes.
The MiniTT1 will let me shoot at 1/500 sync speed rather than just 1/250.
Another thing you will notice that is different in these examples is how far away the photo assistant is from the subjects.
The AlienBee 1600 has the reflector that comes with it, so notice that the flash lights more of the subject. I can change that by just adding a grid, but I didn’t for these photos.
The flash is set at about 1/8 power. I can almost shoot on the motor drive setting for these photos, which is why the recycle time is so short.
When I shot these photos, not a single time did the flash fire. I think that when it comes to getting the best expression, you need to be able to shoot at any moment and not just when your flashes are ready.
I would highly encourage using the studio strobe over the hot shoe flash for this reason alone.
Just like I did above, I talk to the subjects and do a few test shots before I have them walk towards me.
After we did some tests to get them moving, I had them start over where they were talking to one another.
As you can see, it doesn’t take long for people to relax, and the photos look pretty natural. I would have changed one thing in these photos. I would have had the assistant put the light on a light stand and raise the light a little higher to help avoid the glare in the glasses.
This is to show that the flashes fired every time.
Now look at the photos where the flashes didn’t fire. Besides their faces in the shade, the color on their faces isn’t as good. I think that using flash helps you get the best skin tones outside.
Go out and try this yourself.
When flying around the world, it is often easier to carry the Nikon SB900 and a Nikon SB800 than the AlienBee 1600 and the Vagabond Mini Lithium battery. So, depending on the situation, I can still take a photo with either system.
You will never have someone hire you and say they don’t like you. However, just because someone hires you doesn’t mean they want you.
It may shock you that there are people who will hire you just because of your price and not because of your quality.
Photos are just from the beautiful weekend we had here in Georgia.
It was so beautiful this past Saturday that my wife and I drove to Amicalola Falls in Dawsonville, Georgia, to enjoy the day. We found this after climbing the 175 steps to the top.
What is also challenging to understand is that many of your clients will never pay you more? It isn’t because you cannot articulate your value and need to charge more. There are just people out there who do not value anything but price.
When you start in photography, you may end up with price-shopping clients. I had a few of these clients. I needed the work and was willing to take their low price to get some money.
It took me years to realize I wasn’t charging enough for my services to pay my bills. This is how I am defining success for this article. The ability to pay your bills for your household, pay your taxes, have healthcare, and have enough money to buy/replace equipment over time.
Sunday was just as beautiful in Roswell, GA, as Saturday. We drove down Canton Street, stopped, and enjoyed our time at Roswell Provisions.
Time to Educate the Client
My first thought when I learned I wasn’t charging enough was to try and educate the client. I would talk to my clients about the cost of doing business. News Alert!!–they didn’t care.
I needed to educate myself first. I was starting to learn what my operating costs were and that I had to charge a minimum or lose money to cover these costs and grow my business.
Day Rates
I discovered that day rates were day labor. How I learned was quoting day rates and then showing up to be burned a new one.
Clients would hire me to come to their location, and I would quote the day rate. I felt like I was in the big leagues. I went to professional photographers’ workshops, where I learned about the cost of doing business. The National Press Photographers Association even has a calculator to help you consider all your expenses and generate a day rate.
It didn’t take long before I felt abused by clients. “While you are here, can you shoot …?” was becoming too familiar.
Later I would get with other photographers and find out that they were getting 3 to 5 times more for what I was doing. They, however, were not quoting day rates.
Ken Touchton was the first to educate me that I needed to use project rates.
Project Rate
Unlike a day rate where I am pricing myself the same way as a day laborer, the project rate quoted a price based on the end deliverable.
Honestly, learning how to price a project, so the client understood and appreciated the pricing structure took years; frankly, I am still learning how to do a better job.
This is peanut butter and chocolate cupcake with my mocha latte. It is a lot of sugar and tastes great.
GWC vs PS
My career shifted from the Guy With a Camera to a Problem Solver. The client hiring a GWC knows more typically than the photographer and must direct them to get what they need. I cannot tell you a specific date that this happened, but over time I discovered I knew more about what the client required than the client at some point.
My stepson is early in his career working in restaurants. He doesn’t know enough to do it all and is learning the ropes. Clearing tables is where he has had to start. After doing this for a while, he will move to help the waiters and become a waiter.
Hearing him talk about his work day brings back many memories and reminds me how it takes time to become a problem solver. You need enough information and how things relate before you can find solutions for people.
Working for more than 30 years in the industry means that I, more often than not, am covering something I have done in some way in the past. While the exact situation is new, it is often similar to other things I have covered.
While groundbreaking and check presentations seem routine, after 30 years, I can tell you there have been times when I was challenged to take a photo. I remember walking into one business where every wall, except for the bathrooms, was glass. Try and use a flash in this situation, and you find yourself working harder than usual to avoid a glare caused by your moment in the photo.
I enjoyed my coffee, watching people walk by and look in the window. I was enjoying people-watching that afternoon. I enjoy photographing little slices of life like this one.
Transition to clients who value YOU!
In time you will learn to communicate how you are there for your clients. You will no longer price things that make sense to you but rather communicate value to your client.
However, I had to go through what I thought was why people would hire me. Most of these were “Fallacious Arguments” to justify my photography abilities.
Some of “Fallacious Arguments” in photography I used
The camera—If you own the right camera, they will take great photos. I wanted to ensure the client knew I had the best camera possible.
Use Composition Rules—Too many photographers will not only learn the classic rules of composition but will judge their work and others based on these rules. You can hear them in camera clubs saying that it isn’t a good photo because it is breaking the law.
Master the technical—Some photographers are obsessed with the technical details of photos. They will spend their time getting a “perfect exposure.” They will judge their work and others based on if the values of the photograph fall within what they determine as proper exposure. They may argue that their photo is perfect because they used different known values to assure perfection. They may use a GretagMacbeth® ColorChecker®.
I know that, for the most part, I am gifted with technical expertise, but so are many of my colleagues who are working professional photographers.
It is my total package that separates me from others.
One day I had my photo assistant helping me with a job. I was photographing different managers in a company for profiles that were being done on them. I was doing about 20 of these a day.
The photo assistant commented on the day as we were driving back from a long day. You are good at getting people to relax and get good expressions. The assistant was surprised about my ability to talk to a range of people and get them all talking to me about what they like to do.
The assistant could articulate what made my photos so much better than other photographers she had worked with. You get great expressions.
“How do you learn how to do this?” was her question. I talked about how I had majored in Social Work, where I was trained on how to do interviews and get to know people. I then spoke about how my mentor taught me to read body language.
I talked about how my interest in people drove me to seminary, where I studied education, and how people learned at different ages.
I also talked about how it took many years of practice to develop these skills and that classroom alone was not enough.
Hired for my expertise beyond the camera
A few years ago, I had one of my life’s most remarkable moments.
Greg Thompson, director of corporate communications for Chick-fil-A, called me to see if I could do lunch with him one day. We had only known each other a few months after my wife had met him and encouraged him to get to know me.
Greg read my bio and did some investigation about me. He went to Fort Worth, TX, to the Southwestern Photojournalism Conference, of which I am on the staff. He learned about my work with Youth With A Mission, where I taught students how to use photography.
Greg also had been to some Christian in Photojournalism meetings in Atlanta that I help with regularly.
Greg had done his homework and knew me well. Greg had to do this with his work. He knew that he had to trust whoever he was to work with because they represented the company and reflected on his management skills.
I will never forget that meeting in the corporate dining room. After we ate, Greg talked to me about my corporate rates for shooting assignments. I thought he was getting ready to ask me to do a job for him.
Greg then asked me to be a consultant and use all my skills beyond the camera to help him and be a part of his team. I have noticed how you teach, give your time to other pros, and still do excellent work. Greg said why not hire the guy, so many photographers go for advice.
Couple enjoying a meal together on Canton Street in Roswell, GA.
Light bulb moment
While this was a light bulb type of moment, honestly, it was more like I had someone turn on the light with a dimmer. I still understand all he said at that moment.
When I talk to other photographers who have been in business for many years, most have had a moment they can look at as pivotal. They had a client value them for more than GWC. They loved their expertise.
How do you communicate your value?
Everything you do is part of your brand. It takes time to develop a brand. The consistency of execution will help you develop into a desirable brand.
Your photos, over time, will show your skills. When time after time, you always come through and get a particular style of the image–your clients will come to expect this.
Some clients will need to try other photographers before they realize what they get from you. This is important to hear and understand. Sometimes losing a job to another photographer may be the best thing for you. When that photographer fails to deliver what they were getting from you and expect to get, they will come back to you.
This is when you realize you have value for that client. In some cases, this is the best time to raise your rates. Sometimes you raise your rates and then go shopping and return to you.
There is no easy road
My conversation with Greg Thompson didn’t happen until I had been doing photography for some twenty-four years. This is not something that happens overnight. It takes time to build a reputation.
You cannot easily talk people into understanding why they need to pay you the rate you need to be successful. If it were this easy, everyone would be a successful photographer.
It takes time for them to see your quality of work and to experience all that you bring to them. Sometimes the only way they learn all you bring to the table is to discover they cannot get this just anywhere.
Trust is earned over time and can be lost in an instant.
Grow your business by constantly looking for those clients that value you as a person and are not just interested in the lowest price.
First of all, there are times you need to be sure your photos can be adequately reproduced. For example, the headshot is the most used picture I know of in publications.
There are some pretty cool lighting setups you can use, but if you are unaware of how this will affect the photo in print, your client will be sorely disappointed with your photos.
Take this first photo where I am lighting the person with one light on a grid. This classic Rembrandt Lighting gives you a nice triangle on the cheek.
All the photos here were taken during a class I taught in Hawaii on lighting.
You can do this assignment yourself to understand how to understand ratio lighting. You need to first start with one light and then add other lights. Use this lighting diagram and the instructions below to duplicate this with your camera and off-camera flash.
Description: Rembrandt portrait using one grid light
Items:
Monobloc with ten or 20-degree grid
You may use any power setting you choose. Be sure your skin tone is adequately exposed and correct white balance.
White backdrop
You may use a black background as well. No other lights are to be used in this assignment.
Woman
Please get the best possible expression. For example, if they see a triangle on their cheek would be best. Be sure the triangle includes lighting their eye.
(D)SLR
Choose the lowest ISO setting for your camera. For example, use a portrait lens 85mm – 100mm, or if you don’t have a full frame, then 50mm will be OK.
The first place the above photo becomes a problem is in your newspaper. Especially when it runs in black and white, you see that everything without a light on it in the subject will be black in newspaper print.
To still get the excellent shape that takes place with an off-camera flash, you need to add fill light to help soften those harsh shadows so you can still see detail.
It would be best if you used the lighting diagram below to get the second photo here and follow the instructions. Then, shoot your subject with your camera and two lights.
Description: 1:3 lighting ratio. This photo is classic lighting.
Items:
Woman
Your subject should have the main light lighting only part of the face, and the shadows should be just a little to show the 1:3 Ratio.
(D)SLR
Choose the lowest ISO. Use a portrait lens of 50mm if you don’t have a full-frame camera that can work. No more than 100mm.
Octobox
This is your fill light, and get a reading of this 2nd. Be sure it is 1/2 the power (1 f/stop less) than the leading light. After this is done, get a 3rd light reading of both lights, which will be the setting for the camera. It can be level with the eyes, but you may have to move up with glasses to avoid glare.
Softbox
This light is your leading light. Get a light reading with just this first. The light should be 45 degrees off the axis of the camera and 45 degrees above the subject’s eyes.
White backdrop
Keep the subject a few feet from the background, and do not use more lights to light it.
How to figure the Ratio
It would be best if you changed your f/stops into ratios. What I do is first understand that your leading light is putting out twice the light as your fill. You would think that this means you have a 2:1 ratio, but this isn’t the case.
The reason is you must figure not by what each light is putting out but by how much light is hitting the subject.
Everywhere the leading light hits, so are your fill light from the camera’s angle. You then need to add the leading light and the fill for all those places, adding 2 + 1 = 3. The fill only lights the shadow, so there is no need for addition or subtraction.
On the subject, the brightest areas being lighted by the main and fill get three times the light compared to the shadows getting illuminated by just the fill, which we say is one amount of light.
This is what we call the 3:1 lighting ratio, and very printable in a newspaper.
Adding a hair light
Go ahead and then shoot this third shot and add a hair light. Use the diagram below and play with the exposure of the hair light till you get something you like.
Description: 1:3 lighting ratio. This photo is classic lighting with hair light.
Items:
Woman
Your subject should have the main light lighting only part of the face, and the shadows should be just a little to show the 1:3 Ratio.
Monobloc with grid on boom
With dark hair, start at the same f/stop as the main up to about 1 or 2 stops more. With bald or light hair, be careful using hair light. Sometimes better not to use one.
(D)SLR
Choose the lowest ISO. Use a portrait lens of 50mm if you don’t have a full-frame camera can work. No more than 100mm.
Octobox
This is your fill light, and get a reading of this 2nd. Be sure it is 1/2 the power (1 f/stop less) than the leading light. After this is done, get a 3rd light reading of both lights, which will be the setting for the camera. It can be level with the eyes, but you may have to move up with glasses to avoid glare.
Softbox
This light is your leading light. Get a light reading with just this first. The light should be 45 degrees off the axis of the camera and 45 degrees above the subject’s eyes.
White backdrop
Keep the subject a few feet from the background, and do not use more lights to light it.
Background Light
You can add color to your background by just putting a colored gel over a light and pointing it to the background. It would be best if, first, you were sure your other lights were not lighting the background. For the photos below, we used the first lighting setup with one morning with a grid and then added the background light.
Using a white background, be sure your value on the background from the background light is -2 stops as compared to the leading light. This will give you the same color as your gel. Suppose you want a darker color, then even less light. If you prefer a lighting color, add more light.
Here is a photo of some students having fun with their assignments in Kona, Hawaii.
Students helped me demonstrate the issues of a problem with one light close to the group. The person closest is brighter than the others.
Here, all I have done is repositioned everyone, but the lady on the far left is still darker than the other two in the photo.
This is the lighting setup for the two photos above.
After seeing the photos above, one of the first things people think they need to do is add another light. No question this would help solve our lighting problem.
Now let’s be realistic here. Most photographers starting will have just one light and cannot justify another until they begin earning income. How do you solve the problem in just one morning?
Inverse-Square Law
We need to first start with understanding the Inverse-Square Law of Light.
In physics, an inverse-square law is any physical law stating that a specified physical quantity or strength is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the source of that physical quantity. (Wikipedia)
In photography, an object twice the distance from a point source of light will receive a quarter of the illumination.
How this is most often used in photography is to determine your exposure. If you want to keep the same f/stop when you move a light twice the distance from the subject, you must increase the power four times. Inversely, if you move the lamp twice as close, you will need to power down the light to 1/4 the power to keep the same f/stop.
Using the Inverse-Square Law of light for a group photo
The further you move the light from a group, the less the light falling on the subjects’ faces will differ. The reason is that the distance of each subject to the light source, as compared to others in the group, will be so small a difference that they will appear to be more evenly lighted.
The only thing that changes from the first diagram to this one is that the light source is moved farther from the group and to the left.
As shown in the lighting diagram, I have moved the light source further from the group. I suggest moving the light as far away from the group as possible to get the most even light.
You can now see that the light is more even on everyone in the photo. One person said it is light, creating a depth-of-field effect with the flash.
While this would have solved the lighting problem by keeping the lighting the same as in the first photo, it would limit your creativity when posing with a single light. This is why moving the light back gives you more posing options and more light in a group photo.
Technical Changes
ISO: You may need to use a higher ISO to keep your flash effective. You may change from ISO 100 to ISO 3200. Remember that, since you are using a flash, the noise is different and can actually seem to disappear. (link to earlier blog on this)
Aperture: For group photos, use f/8 or higher to ensure everyone is in focus. If you use f/2, for example, your group photo above would look more like a solo act with backup singers than a musical group.
Studio Strobe vs Hot Shoe Flash: This is when it makes more sense to own a studio flash than a hot shoe flash. You can get more power, and the recycling time is much quicker. (Earlier Blog Post comparing hot shoe flash and studio light)
You can buy hot shoe flashes for under $90. These hot shoe flashes are not TTL, but you can use them in manual mode just as you would a studio strobe. They are just less powerful and take a while to recycle.
This is the Vivitar 285, which you get at B&H Photo for $87
Practice making a group photo and evenly lighting everyone with just one flash. Understanding and mastering this skill will help you when you have limited equipment and still need a professional group photo.
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